A ceremony welcoming the Charles W. Morgan is scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday. Visitors are advised to arrive no later than 9:30.

Seating is invitation only and standing room for general public.

There are limited public viewing areas at the homecoming ceremony.

Mystic's traveling dockside exhibitions open at 9 a.m.

The Morgan will open to the public at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Parking: In addition to metered parking, the Zeiterion and Elm St. garages in the Downtown area, there will be free satellite parking available on Saturday and Sunday, and July 4-6 at New Bedford High School, 230 Hathaway Blvd. Shuttle service provided ($2 round trip fare, children under 12 ride free). For directions and information about handicap parking and accessibility, please visit: http://destinationnewbedford.org/wp-content/uploads/Parking-for-the-Morgan.pdf

Safety and security: Bags, backpacks, suitcases, rolling bags and any container capable of carrying more than 1 liter of liquid will not be allowed onto State Pier. Pocketbooks, diaper bags and baby strollers will be searched at the screening area.

Visitor tip: The Morgan will be open to the public in New Bedford Harbor for nine days and visitor traffic will likely be at its height on the weekends. If you can plan your visit to the Morgan between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m weekdays, you may avoid long wait times.

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD — The clouds parted Wednesday afternoon and the venerable whaleship Charles W. Morgan, built in this city, arrived at State Pier from Vineyard Haven, closing a circle in maritime history.

Capt. Richard “Kip” Files, his voice choked with emotion, told his crew and his guests on board, as he had earlier in the day, that they had become members of a very small club: people who are alive who have been at sea in a wooden whaleship.

Mystic Seaport President Steve White said to the crew: “The significance of the day is not lost on any of us. You were extraordinary.”

Mayor Jon Mitchell, at a gathering before boarding the ship in Vineyard Haven, made sure everyone understood the mixed emotions many in New Bedford have about losing her to Mystic in 1941, a century after she was built.

“For some she was a symbol of decline,” he said. “This is a turning of the page.”

This fourth leg of what's being called the Morgan's 38th Voyage started out under skies that were more gray than those of the past couple of weeks.

With tug Sirius sounding a horn and a signal cannon firing from the ship, the newly restored Morgan made her way out of Vineyard Haven at 9:30 a.m.

Rounding West Chop and heading into Vineyard Sound on a course to the southwest, the ship ran into headwinds and a 3-knot tide running the wrong way. The tug remained in place.

The ship was towed through Quick's Hole at noon, finally making her way into Buzzards Bay, where she threw off the tow and set sail under soupy gray skies and a favorable wind.

She made excellent speed. Files said that the Morgan had reached 8 knots, the fastest so far, with fewer than half the sails set.

She was making such good time that the decision was made to virtually stop her for a while, a maneuver Files demonstrated for visitors on his hands and knees on the deck, using a model. Whalers would make that maneuver to be able to deploy whaleboats, he said. A ship could remain at a near standstill for days.

On deck, the 38th Voyagers — nine people hand-selected to experience a leg of the journey — mingled with invited guests. The day was a challenge for everybody to stay out of the way of the crew members, who were echoing orders and setting sails and yardarms, which is backbreaking work.

The guests mingled with the voyagers, all of whom had spent the previous night in claustrophobic bunks in the foc'sle. People exchanged chats all day.

Voyagers shared their stories, including Vanessa Hodgskinson of London, who has become intrigued with the stories of women who passed themselves off as boys in able to join a whaler.

“All the stories are the same,” he said. “They all involve women trying to follow a man who left them.” She attributed that to a single account by boatsteerer Nelson Cole Haley in his journal of the Morgan's third voyage. To prepare for her voyage, Hodgskinson had groomed and dressed herself to look like a boy.

The high point of the day came as the Morgan, again under tow, approached the hurricane barrier in New Bedford Harbor. After a day of dark jokes about breaking up on the rocks like the Wanderer in 1824, the sun had broken through and she was saluted with five thunderous volleys from the Fort Phoenix cannons in Fairhaven, where thousands of spectators had gathered.

Slowly the Morgan was turned around and eased into place alongside State Pier, where she will remain until July 6. She will be open to the public starting Saturday.